8K TV, A.I. everything, and more trends we expect to see at IFA 2018 | Computing

IFA is right around the corner, and if history is any indication, we’re about to see some seriously awesome tech. We’ve kept our ears to the ground and snooped around to learn what’s coming this year, and one thing is certain: You do not want to miss the news coming from IFA 2018, and Digital Trends has boots on the ground to bring it to you. Here’s a teaser of what to expect over the coming days from Europe’s biggest technology show.

Televisions will probably steal the lion’s share of media spotlights this year, and that’s because this will be the year of 8K TVs. Yes, we’ve seen 8K TVs before, but the news we expect to hear this year is that 8K TVs will finally go on sale in the coming months. Many of you will balk, but we’ve got some pretty compelling reasons why 8K TV is worth getting excited about.

Aside from 8K, we do expect microLED to remain a buzzword, and of course, there should be some OLED surprises in store. We’ll be positioned in the right place at the right time to get you up close and personal with all the new TV hotness, so stay tuned!

Phones

IFA has never been a big show for phones – most brands save their best for Mobile World Congress, held in February – and this year will probably be no different. A few new toss-ins from Chinese phone makers like Huawei and ZTE are likely, but don’t get too excited since many of these phones never make it to the US.

Samsung’s already released its Galaxy S9, and LG isn’t expected to bring anything new, but Sony could surprise us. We’ll know for sure by Thursday morning!

Smart home and appliances

If its one thing you can count on at IFA, it’s a glut of smart home devices and smart appliances. This year, we expect to see not just internet connectivity, but A.I. built into just about everything. We also expect Samsung to push its Bixby voice assistant and Smart Things ecosystem, while LG will hopefully show off more of what its ThinkQ A.I. system can do. The trend this show should be interoperability – your fridge talking to your washer, which is talking to your phone, which is talking to your TV, and so on.

Our big question: Will all this “smart” stuff finally become easy to use?

Of course, recognizing accents has never been either the Google Assistant’s or Alexa’s forte, so rather than see voice assistants integrated into more devices, let’s see some improvement on the voice recognition end.

Robots overlords

Sony already unveiled the latest edition of its Aibo Robot dog, and we’re sure to see it at the show. But Sony will have competition in Berlin this year, as we expect teems of robots armed with cloud-based artificial intelligence to be found vacuuming floors, playing games, and clinging to people. Yes, LG’s got a wearable robot designed to aid mobility and it looks like its straight out of a movie. We’re going to give it a try and let you know what it’s like.

Franky, it will be a quiet year for PCs. Digital Trends’ Senior Editor Matt Smith told us most laptop announcements will involve incremental improvements, but no bold upgrades. Nvidia just unleashed a slew of graphics cards, so it’s unlikely we’ll see any movement there, and though the promise of a Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered PC still lingers, we’re starting to wonder if that’s just going to take a few more years.

IFA’s press day starts Wednesday morning in Berlin, Germany at 10:00 AM. You can follow our coverage by simply following @digitaltrends on Twitter and Instagram. You can also catch all our video coverage at our YouTube channel.